29 August 2021

Researchers from the Singapore University of the Social Sciences (SUSS) will be conducting a five-year study into how Singaporeans use their time.

The study will take a random sample of 1,000 Singaporean households, defined as those living under one roof, taking into account a variety of family structures.

SUSS will seek to understand how Singaporeans’ routines and rituals have changed. The study will do this by looking at how much time Singaporeans spend at home, the workplace or school.

SUSS president Cheong Hee Kiat said the research will be able to contribute to good policy decisions by helping policymakers understand what is happening on the ground. The principal investigator of the study is psychologist Leong Chan-Hoong, an associate professor at the SUSS Centre for Applied Research.

29 August 2021

Yale-NUS College will stop accepting new students and will be closed down by 2025, when its final batch will graduate.

Yale-NUS College is a liberal arts institution set up by Yale University and the National University of Singapore in 2011.

NUS, in a press release on Friday (Aug 27) morning, said Yale-NUS will merge with NUS’ University Scholars Programme (USP) to form a new college that will open by August next year (2022).

The USP started in 2001 and admits around 240 undergraduates a year.

In merging the two schools, NUS said it aims to bring together the best features and extensive experiences of USP and Yale-NUS.

18 August 2021

Ang Zyn Yee is one of the two recipients of the President’s Scholarship (PSC) this year.

She was from Hwa Chong Institution and will go to Brown University in the United States, where she will study economics and statistics.

Ms Ang became curious about the work done by the Singapore armed forces when she signed up for a camp run by the Defence Ministry when she was 17. She liked the experience so much that she has since opted for a career in the Republic of Singapore Navy. In her Officer Cadet School course, she was awarded the Sword of Honour.

Ms Ang said said: “I intend to dabble in subjects like politics, computer science and history to get a diversity of experiences and perspectives.”

10 August 2021

The Singapore Institute of Technology has appointed Professor Chua Kee Chaing as its third president.

Prof Chua, currently SIT deputy president (academic) and provost, will be the president-designate from Sept 1. He succeeds Professor Tan Thiam Soon.

Prof Chua joined SIT in Sept 2019 and has led the university’s development in areas including applied learning and applied research.

Before joining SIT, Prof Chua was dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the National University of Singapore.

Chairman of the SIT board of trustees Ng Yat Chung said: “I have every confidence that SIT will continue to grow and thrive under the leadership of Kee Chaing, who possesses the strategic vision and expertise to solidify SIT’s reputation as Singapore’s premier university of applied learning.”

04 August 2021

Recently, 162 students received a Singapore-Industry Scholarship (SgIS). These scholarships are given in a partnership between the Government and corporations in Singapore’s key industries.

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, who started the scholarship in 2012 when he was Education Minister, was the guest of honour at an online ceremony attended by the scholarship recipients.

Mr Heng said that more than 1,100 scholarships have been given out over the years, and there are now 73 sponsoring organisations taking part.

Mr Heng, who is also Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies, said: “SgIS is an important partnership between the Government and industries, to collectively develop a stronger Singaporean core of industry leaders.”

04 August 2021

Students generally prefer to speak to a familiar teacher about what is troubling them, rather than a counsellor they have little contact with.

This view was enunciated at a forum – titled It’s Okay Not To Be Okay – organised by The Straits Times on Friday (July 30). During the forum, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing stated that the lingering stigma of seeing a counsellor, and its associations with misbehaviour, hold students back from seeking professional help.

Tampines Meridian Junior College student El’Yez Mu’Arif said teens might not feel comfortable sharing private details with counsellors. He said that perhaps the Ministry of Education could train more teachers in this field.

Mr Chan, in response to El’Yez’s suggestion, said: “We want to equip more teachers, reduce their workload a bit and have them take on some of these (counselling) duties because I think most of you are much more comfortable with your teachers because you know them much more intimately.”

03 August 2021

It is known that expectations to perform well at school cause stress amongst young students in Singapore.

Recently, students also told Education Minister Chan Chun Sing at a dialogue on Friday (July 30) night that other sources of stress include the social anxiety of missing out on the experiences of others. They said that scrolling through social media often breeds the fear of missing out, otherwise known as Fomo.

Acknowledging that social media adds a new layer of stress, Mr Chan said: “I think learning how to cope with this is also very important because, otherwise, you would be beholden to the entire social media feed and your whole psychology will be driven by this, and that’s unhealthy.”

The stress arising from parental expectations of academic achievement has come under scrutiny in the past, most recently in the last two weeks, and many parents, including Mr Chan, have reflected on how success is defined. Students said pressure also comes from within in the quest for excellence.